NYC Releases Artist Proposals for Permanent Billie Holiday Monument in Queens
The public invited to review and provide feedback on six finalist designs honoring the legendary jazz icon in Queens.
The New York City Department of Cultural Affairs has released the proposals from six artist finalists for a permanent public monument honoring Billie Holiday, one of the most influential jazz artists in American history. The project is being commissioned through the Percent for Art program.
As part of the selection process, the public is invited to review the six finalist proposals and submit feedback through the end of May 2026. The selection panel will consider this input in its deliberations before choosing a final design, which will be announced later this year.
The monument will be installed at the Jamaica Performing Arts Center, managed by the Jamaica Center for Arts and Learning in Queens, celebrating Holiday's enduring artistic legacy and her deep ties to the borough where she lived and performed.
Born Eleanora Fagan Gough, Billie Holiday rose to prominence in the 1930s and transformed American music through her singular voice, emotional depth, and groundbreaking performances. Throughout her career, she collaborated with celebrated musicians including Count Basie and Artie Shaw, while also breaking racial barriers as one of the first Black women to perform with integrated white bands.
Her haunting recording of Strange Fruit, a protest against lynching, remains one of the most powerful works of political expression in American music, and was named by Time magazine as “the song of the century.” Holiday's legacy has been recognized with numerous honors, including multiple Grammy Awards and induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
Following an open call for artists, an initial Percent for Art panel convened in late 2025 and selected six finalists to develop proposals for the monument. Finalists participated in a site visit, orientation, discussions with Billie Holiday scholars and family members, and ongoing consultation with DCLA staff as they refined their concepts.
The Six Finalist Artists
La Vaughn Belle
Billie Holiday: Still, at the Crossing (Working Title)
This proposal presents Billie Holiday in a moment of self-possession, emerging from the ground at the edge of a reflective pool. The work focuses on a pre-stage moment, honoring the interior life, self-fashioning, and emotional authority that shaped her voice and artistic legacy.
Nikesha Breeze
Lady Sings the Truth: A Monument to Billie Holiday (Working Title)
Carved in Nero Marquina marble, the monument portrays Holiday mid-song with white marble gardenias resting in her hair and floating in a reflecting pool. The integrated seating area acts as an amphitheater and resonance chamber for gathering and reflection.
Nekisha Durrett
Bending the Note (Working Title)
This concept reimagines Holiday as a white marble gardenia petal rising on a slender stem, with subtle ripples resolving into her profile. A circular granite plinth would feature etched elements developed in collaboration with Holiday's family.
Tanda Francis
Blood at the Root (Working Title)
The monument centers on Holiday's role as a spiritual godmother to those who suffered as she did. Community workshops would invite participants to inscribe tribulations and triumphs onto petals incorporated into the installation.
Thomas J. Price
Held Within (Working Title)
Inspired by a private photograph of Billie Holiday with a beloved dog, this sculpture strips away iconography and focuses instead on warmth, intimacy, and mutual trust through simplified bronze forms.
Tavares Strachan
The Very Thought of You (Working Title)
Inspired by a historic photographic profile of Holiday, the sculpture transforms her silhouette into a vessel-like form designed to hold memory, sound, and emotional resonance across generations.
“For much of her life, Billie Holiday considered New York City her creative home. It's appropriate the city is now honoring her with a monument that will symbolize her enduring contribution not only to the city but to American culture,” said Paul Alexander, author of Bitter Crop: The Heartache and Triumph of Billie Holiday's Last Year.
"Lady Day has one of the greatest and most distinctive voices in musical history,” said the Honorable Bevan Dufty, godson of Billie Holiday. “Just as important is Billie Holiday's courage, repeatedly refusing to accept racial discrimination.”
“Being Billie Holiday's goddaughter, I was pleased and touched to be included in this process,” said Lorraine Feather, lyricist, vocalist, and three-time Grammy Award nominee. “I know that this monument will be a powerful testament to her creative spirit as well as to her sweetness and warmth as a human being.”
Members of the public are invited to review the finalist proposals and share feedback through an online form. The exhibition of proposal renderings will also be on view in the lobby of the Jamaica Performing Arts Center throughout May.
The final design will be selected by a Percent for Art panel composed of representatives from City agencies, local leaders, community members, public art professionals, and stakeholders dedicated to preserving Billie Holiday's legacy, including family members and scholars. The selected artist will be announced in Summer 2026.
For more information and to submit feedback on the finalist proposals, visit NYC Billie Holiday Monument Proposals
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